ELEMENTARY textbooks in economics invariably begin with a completely mythical concept: the concept of “perfect competition”, which is different from the concept of “free competition” that the classical economists and Marx had used.

Let us forget for a moment the fact that the very existence of Israel is an instance of ruthless settler colonialism that has displaced millions of Palestinians and taken over their land.

DONALD Trump has put off his proposed tariffs by ninety days; but countries like India have to respond to Trump’s measures whether now or after ninety days.

It is important for an intellectual position not only to be right but to be right for the right reasons; and the near-universal condemnation of Donald Trump’s aggressive imposition of tariffs, though right, is right for the wrong reasons.

ONE of the puzzling phenomena in world capitalism today is the bellicosity displayed by Europe vis-à-vis Russia.

Nobody can claim that the rate of growth of agricultural production, especially of food grain production, has been higher in the neoliberal period than during the years of dirigiste development that preceded it; it may have been somewhat lower but let us agree that it is certainly no higher.

The Trump strategy for the revival of imperialism amounts to having one’s cake and eating it too.

The official hope is that the workers’ bargaining strength gets sufficiently lowered by having greater unemployment so that they cannot bargain for higher money wages to compensate for the price-rise, because of which inflation would eventually peter out.

While it is certainly true that Trumpism is not identical with capitalism per se, it would be a mistake to see Trumpism as a completely separate and alien phenomenon.

A CHORUS of “establishment” voices, from consultancy firms to the financial press, has been demanding a boost to domestic consumption as a means of reviving the flagging growth rate of the Indian economy. The latest to join this chorus is the Reserve Bank of India which in its latest Bulletin has asked for a boost to consumption to “rekindle the animal spirits” of the “entrepreneurs” in the economy.

U.S. imperialism in short believes that it can do whatever it likes, that it is a law unto itself.

There are at least three basic differences between European nationalism as it developed in the seventeenth century and the anti-colonial third world nationalism of the twentieth century.

The primary cause of the rupee’s depreciation is the preference of the Indian rich to hold their wealth in the form of U.S. dollars rather than in Indian rupees.

All this however is still in the realm of mere possibilities; what is more certain is the 10 per cent tax on global imports and the 60 per cent tax on imports from China.

The aim of all fascistic governments is to disempower the people; and the Modi government is no exception.

Liberal opinion holds that the international monetary and financial system is a device for promoting the interests of all participating countries by providing a convenient payments arrangement within which trade can be carried on. The reality however is altogether different: the international system is founded upon the hegemony of western imperialism, and in turn sustains this hegemony.

KARL Marx had once said that all criticism must begin with the criticism of religion.

The CJI refrained from giving “socialism” an institutional character. All over the world the term “socialism” has been taken to mean social ownership of the means of production, at least of the key means of production; but the CJI, defining “socialism” in terms of outcome rather than the institution of ownership suggested that private enterprise was not incompatible with “socialism”; what really mattered was the creation of a welfare state ensuring equality of opportunity for all citizens.

It is common for governments these days to provide fiscal transfers to capitalists, whether through reduced corporate tax rates, or by providing direct cash subsidies, to encourage greater investment by them and thereby stimulate the economy. During Donald Trump’s first presidency there had been a cut in corporate tax rate with this objective in mind. In India the Modi government, as is well-known, has given massive tax concessions with the same objective.

The political philosophy of classical liberalism, which provided the basis for liberal political praxis, was sustained by a long tradition of bourgeois economic thought, straddling both classical political economy and neo-classical economics.